Fantastic trek!! The weather is just amazing!! We ALSO took a 6 month old baby all the way to the lake (3000m) and back.
To start at the beginning, we took one of our favorite guests to Kareri lake. Now this favorite guest (Ewa) has a friend (Katrin) visiting Dharamsala and she has a 6 month old baby (Kaya). Since Ewa wanted to see the lake, we decided to carry the baby all the way to the lake. Kaya, turned out to be a gem and better behaved than 90% of our clients!! :)
The group consisted of 1) Ewa 2) Katrin 3) Kaya the baby 4) Bridget 5,6,7,8) Raja, Sachin, Kapil, Vinay (The Himalayan Explorers Team). Sachin was the designated baby carrier.
We set up camp at the Forest Rest House ( a big four room affair) at Kareri Village (1800m) and 9 Kms out of McLeodganj.
The rest house has attached bathrooms and a beautiful premises that makes it really fun. But, be prepared for leaking pipes, mouldy linen, faulty wiring, etc. The caretaker is very generous and you can have the place to yourselves for a simple 500 rupees a night.
It is unseasonally hot, almost pushing 27 Degrees and gets very hot as we go higher. The heat was debilitating and the short 9 Kms trek seemed like an expedition.
On the 10th of April, Day 2, we decided to start early (as possible) and make it to the Kareri lake, around 14 Kms away through a steep terrain. We would be ascending 1200m in a short time!! Plus, we had to make sure that Kaya would have no side effects from the altitude.
Then came the windy climb towards Trekkers Junction (Lioti). This place is an excellent camping ground 10 Kms away from Kareri Village and ususally we camp here and rest. We reached this point by 1230 and had a huddle to decide if we all wanted to push for the lake.
The dilemmas were 1) Baby's condition 2) We will be late for dinner 3) We can get late and might have to trek through the dark. Having, in a democratic process, come to no decision whatsoever, Ewa decided for us, being the benevolent and beautiful dictator. From Lioti (2400m) it is a 4 Km walk to the Lake and a 600m ascent. At this elevation, the sun and the terrain gets tough even for the best of trekkers. As I was walking I realised that the group was not flagging in any way and were all loving it.
We reached the lake around 2 PM and after a quick lunch, were sufficiently refreshed to make the return.
The lake itself is diminishing every year I visit it. Lack of snow, hot weather, someone somewhere using more aerosols, factories, planes, green house gases, cow farts, affluents, and what have you could be to blame. Who knows anymore. We have so many theories and every person that can read and click a mouse has a theory now. In the interim period the rest of the world's future is still being decided by the few who have brought us on the brink of extinction.
All I brought away from this trek is the haphazard way outdoor activities are planned in the region, the way large tracts of pristine forests have been marked for clearing to build roads, the gross neglect of the Forest Conservation department OF the forest, the way people are selling their lands to developers, it might be the last time I see the tree lined trails, I am happy to be here, I hope I can show my kids these places, hopefully I can help fix something, write a letter, yell at someone...
A great Summer to all and big hugs to Ewa, Bridget, Katrin and Kaya.
Himalayan Explorers
To start at the beginning, we took one of our favorite guests to Kareri lake. Now this favorite guest (Ewa) has a friend (Katrin) visiting Dharamsala and she has a 6 month old baby (Kaya). Since Ewa wanted to see the lake, we decided to carry the baby all the way to the lake. Kaya, turned out to be a gem and better behaved than 90% of our clients!! :)
The group consisted of 1) Ewa 2) Katrin 3) Kaya the baby 4) Bridget 5,6,7,8) Raja, Sachin, Kapil, Vinay (The Himalayan Explorers Team). Sachin was the designated baby carrier.
We set up camp at the Forest Rest House ( a big four room affair) at Kareri Village (1800m) and 9 Kms out of McLeodganj.
The rest house has attached bathrooms and a beautiful premises that makes it really fun. But, be prepared for leaking pipes, mouldy linen, faulty wiring, etc. The caretaker is very generous and you can have the place to yourselves for a simple 500 rupees a night.
It is unseasonally hot, almost pushing 27 Degrees and gets very hot as we go higher. The heat was debilitating and the short 9 Kms trek seemed like an expedition.
On the 10th of April, Day 2, we decided to start early (as possible) and make it to the Kareri lake, around 14 Kms away through a steep terrain. We would be ascending 1200m in a short time!! Plus, we had to make sure that Kaya would have no side effects from the altitude.
Then came the windy climb towards Trekkers Junction (Lioti). This place is an excellent camping ground 10 Kms away from Kareri Village and ususally we camp here and rest. We reached this point by 1230 and had a huddle to decide if we all wanted to push for the lake.
We reached the lake around 2 PM and after a quick lunch, were sufficiently refreshed to make the return.
The lake itself is diminishing every year I visit it. Lack of snow, hot weather, someone somewhere using more aerosols, factories, planes, green house gases, cow farts, affluents, and what have you could be to blame. Who knows anymore. We have so many theories and every person that can read and click a mouse has a theory now. In the interim period the rest of the world's future is still being decided by the few who have brought us on the brink of extinction.
A great Summer to all and big hugs to Ewa, Bridget, Katrin and Kaya.
Himalayan Explorers
3 comments:
Oh my Gosh!!!!!! what a beauty in the region...
I am lucky that i belong to 'Kareri' such a beautiful place..
Everyone must visit the place.
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